It's happened to us all at some point in our lives. But the story tonight of Newnan's Lindsey Scallon and her lost camera is almost unbelievable.

What was lost is now found.

Wednesday night, Scallon showed 11Alive's Jeff Hullinger pictures of her 2007 diving trip to Maui. In one picture, you can see her new $300 camera strapped to her wrist.

However, when she surfaced, she realized the camera was no longer there -- gone to the deep for all time.

Fast forward five-and-a-half years -- Sunday morning, Scallon received a text from a friend who saw her on a website. The message read: Looks like somebody finally found your camera after all these years.

The distance between Hawaii where she lost the camera and where a man found it in Taiwan was 6,000 miles.

A manager of China Airlines found it on a beach while he was vacationing with his family. The waterproof casing was still intact, so he was able to download the pictures from the camera. The photographs inspired him to track down the owner via Facebook.

"I received an email from China Airlines who is talking to the Taiwan government on my behalf. they have invited me as a guest of the country so their diplomats will get in touch with me," Scallon said.

That's right -- a free trip, where she will be treated like a visiting head of state.

The lesson learned in all of this?

"Yeah, sure -- If I knew that, I would have thrown it in the ocean a long time ago," Scallon joked.

She is looking at a trip to Taiwan in early June. And who knows -- she may land a big camera endorsement deal too.